History Of The Soka Gakkai SGI Buddhist Center

By Barbara Anderson


When desiring to explore the Buddhist spiritual practice, there are a number of different paths. One of the most historic is that of the SGI Buddhist organization, a group founded at an International Peace conference in Guam in 1975. At that first meeting, there were 51 countries representing countries and territories around the world.

Currently, the United States branch of the organization is located in Chicago, Illinois. In part, the SGI was created as an intentional international peace movement. Choosing Guam as the location of the first meeting was based on the history of the area during World War II along with Guam's close proximity to Tinian Island, the launching pad of bombs aimed at Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan.

The original global expansion of the group began just after the end of World War II. In large part, the expansion was due to the high number of servicemen married to Soka Gakki members, whom once married left Japan. In some cases, the couples also had children whom were coming to a real home for the first time. For, the servicemen with families at that time often lived in large tents.

The SGI has also received some great honors. For example, a stamp was produced for the 25th anniversary of the organization with a stamp in 2000. When available, the first stamp was released on October 2nd in conjunction with President Ikeda's journey overseas in 1960.

In 2015, the Peace Research Institute Director reported that SGI was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The nomination was later confirmed by a local Nobel Peace Laureate. While this is the case, the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet received the award. Whereas, the SGI-USA was one of the groups organizing for the first annual Buddhist conference to be held at the White House.

Italy's SGI location has officially been recognized by the Italian government as of 2015. In addition, the government also acknowledged the organization as an official religion which allows all local organizations to operate on a tax-free basis. As such, all donations provided to the organization are tax deductible from personal income taxes when and where applicable.

Now comprised of a national network, the SGI has a number of affiliate organizations and groups. In fact, as of 2011, the organization had over 190 local organizations in countries around the world. The organization continues to grow with new countries and members joining on a regular basis. For, the organization has already grown to 12 million plus SGI members around the world.

All local SGI organizations operate autonomously with all business dealings are provided in the native language of the country. In addition, most of the national organizations are sponsored and coordinated by local community not-for-profit groups. Wile this is the case, most locations organize and produce at least one fundraiser to raise funds on a quarterly or annual basis.




About the Author:



No comments :

Post a Comment